Blacquiere's Blog

Welcome to a new year in Grade 4/5. Our classroom is up and running smoothly and we are all getting used to the new routines and expectations. As most parents know by now we use our Agendas daily. Not only are they a lesson in organization for the students but they are a great communication tool for parents and teachers. Please read your child’s Agenda daily to stay informed on happenings in our classroom, David Thompson and homework assignments. Students must have their Agendas signed by me at the end of each day and by home each night. This ensures homework gets completed and students are prepared for tests.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me by phone or via email. I will be sending a class newsletter home which will include my school email. I will also ask parents for an email address so that I can contact them promptly regarding any assignment or classroom issues.

I will assign some projects that require internet use. In these cases I insist that students please use the links provided on this blog to avoid spending hours googling topics or gathering inaccurate information.

Reminder: School photos are this Friday! (Sept.30)

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Well, we’re in the last stretch of the year. Some more important dates to remember:

May 20th – Non-Instructional Day

May 24th – Zone track meet

May 26th – Class photos

June 2 – Districts track meet

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We are into the last term of the school year. The sun is almost ready to make an appearance. Here are some of our upcoming events:

April 11th – Pro-D day for Teachers

April 20th  - Spring Play (6:30)

April 29th – Easter weekend

May 11th – School Track and Field

Academically speaking, we are working on a novel study, “Among the Hidden”. Each Friday students are asked to hand their books in so that I may monitor their progress. We just finished a research project on Haiti and Canada’s involvement with the earthquake, marks will be sent home this week. We are beginning work on story writing. First we identify and develop the elements of a story then we jump into writing! We have just finished our unit on Fractions in Math and expect a test early next week. In Health and Careers we are beginning a study on Tobacco. The resources we will be using can be found on my blog under HACE. Also of interest are the sites found on the Writing page. They include several story making sites which the kids have been exploring during Computers at school.

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The class is now working on a Canadian government webquest found on my blog. They will be researching various aspects of government. The reason that an Ontario government is used is because of the exceptional online information the Ontario government provides! I will try where possible to substitute a BC based link.

We will be finishing our 39 Clues read aloud this week. Look for their Reading books to come home next week to be signed. I will try to get them all marked over the weekend. We will be moving on to some non-fiction reading and book reports. A Math test will also come home this week for signing. I hope the class mark improves over the last test results. In Science we will be starting a unit on microscopes. There will be a lot of hands-on work in this unit.

There is a Halloween Dance this Friday and students are welcome to wear their costumes to it. If parents would like to bring a “few” treats in that day we will have a small class break before the dance to enjoy them! Nothing to fancy as I’m sure the kids will be eager to get to the dance!

November 2nd – Photo retakes

November 3rd – Hot dog day

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Well we’re into our daily routines now and most of the students have adapted to the expectations and work load of Grade six. I am finding some students are still not completing homework assignments which unfortunately will effect their grades. Homework is only assigned if students have been absent or are not focused in class it is very important they complete their work in order to receive marks. I have sent the first math test home to be signed and we will be having another quiz soon.

I want to thank parents for their participation in the Scholastic book orders as I put the bonus points we earn toward books for our classroom library. I will send another book order home at the end of the month.

IMPORTANT DATES:

October 21st and October 22nd parent teacher interviews

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Welcome to the beginning of a new school year. I am very excited to be working with the Grade 6′s this year. For those of you unfamiliar with my blog it is a source of information and communication for students and parents. I will post important school and class dates as well as homework/assignment due dates and upcoming test dates. I include sites that I wish the kids to use for research projects as well as anything interesting I happen to find while playing on the computer! Parents and students are able to ask questions or post comments on the blog that hopefully I can answer.

I will be sending a newsletter home this week that will inform parents about my blog as well as update them on classroom rules, routines and expectations.

For now, check out the neat links on the 39 Clues page!

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Some important dates to remember:

This week:

Math test tomorrow on Fractions

Science test on Wednesday on Electricity

Class pictures on Wednesday

Next week:

Monday, May 3rd Primary performance

Tuesday, May 4th Phoenix Center in for Gr 5/6 presentation

Science new unit on Extreme Environments and resources Gr. 6

Gr. 5 will be beginning a new unit on Renewable and Non-renewable resources

Expect marks coming home to be signed in Reading, Science and Math.

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Hope everyone had an enjoyable spring break. Now that we’re all relaxed and refreshed just a reminder that report cards are coming out this month.

Currently in the classroom:

Grade 5′s will be working on a Simple Machines webquest in Science

Grade 6′s will be continuing with their work on Electricity in Science

In Reading both grades will continue their work using the novel Lightning Thief and in Writing we will continue with our work in the book Write Traits. Teaching basic writing skills such as sentence fluency, paragraph writing and using interesting vocabulary.

In Math the Grade 5′s are working on Multiplication skills.

Our Health and Careers work continues to focus on healthy eating. We have completed one project on nutrition and are beginning a new one that explores the Fast Food options and how they fit into healthy eating choices.

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Skiing tomorrow! The students are very excited as are the teachers! Look forward to seeing some of you on the slopes!

Currently in the classroom we are working on a Health and Careers project about healthy eating. Students are expected to create either a commercial or an advertisement for their health food store promoting healthy products and covering the 5 food groups. Work should be done in class and in groups. The final project is due Monday, Feb. 15th.

In Science Grade 6′s are working on Electricity, they are using batteries, wires, and light bulbs to create circuits. Parents should be expecting Endangered Animals assignments home to be signed this week. Grade 5′s are working with Ms. Schwydiuk on Simple Machines.

Math – Grade 5′s will have a test on Thursday, Feb.11th. Expect marks home on Friday, Feb. 12th to be signed.

Reading – Both grades are currently working on different assignments for the Lightning Thief. Grade 6 parents should be expecting several marks to come home from their Independent Reading Project.

In honor of Reading Week both grades are working on a research assignment collecting information about Dragons from around the world. It is a different assignment in that they are allowed to cut and paste information straight from the websites. They are however, to only use the web sites from my blog.

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Hope everyone had a restful and rejuvenating holiday filled with lots of chocolate! Mine certainly was and now I will spend much time running off that chocolate! My students were very thoughtful and generous this year.

IMPORTANT DATES:

Skiing – Feb.10th, Feb. 24th, Mar.3rd

YPC – Jan. 19th

Book Week – Dragon theme : Jan. 25 – 29th

IN CLASS:

We are starting several new projects in class this month. In Reading the Gr. 5′s are beginning a novel study, The Lightning Thief. This is a very entertaining novel by Rick Riordan which will be coming out as a movie next month. I hope to be able to bring the class to watch it as my Gr.6′s read the novel last year as well.

The Gr.6′s are doing an Independent Novel Study on a book of their choice. I gave them a list of recommended novels for each grade level and they chose one which interested them. They than are assigned three projects to complete on their own. They will be given lots of class time to complete them. The first Vocabulary assignment will be due next Wednesday, Jan. 13th.

In Science the Gr. 6′s will be working with a student teacher, Ms.Schwydiuk on Simple Machines. I will be observing their lessons.

The Gr. 5′s will be working on Electricity.

In Health and Careers we will be doing a webquest on Nutrition. We will be examining labels and the contents of the foods we eat. We will also become experts on the Canada Food Guide and it’s recommendations for daily eating.

I will continue to send quizzes and larger assignments home for parents to sign to ensure you are aware of your child’s progress this year.

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